Pentagon budget 2022: Proposed USN plan continues carrier support

Despite recent calls by the US Navy (USN) leadership to review the future of the USN’s large-deck aircraft carrier fleet, the service is moving ahead with plans for its future carrier force, requesting about USD2.4 billion for its next Ford-class ships in the USN’s proposed Fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget released 28 May.

The requested funding will finance the fifth increment of detailed design and construction for the third Ford-class carrier Enterprise (CVN 80) and fourth increment for the fourth Ford-class carrier Doris Miller (CVN 81).

Enterprise and Doris Miller were awarded as a two-carrier procurement in a contract deal the USN estimates will save the service about USD4 billion compared to the navy’s original cost estimates for buying CVN 80 and CVN 81 separately.

The FY 2022 request also includes about USD166 million to address “unique technologies” for the Ford-class carriers, according to USN documents accompanying the budget proposal release on 28 May.

Research and development efforts continue for the integrated Digital Shipbuilding (iDS) transformation in support of the two-carrier buy for Enterprise and Doris Miller, which the USN said, “is a critical affordability initiative to upgrade the digital data environment”.

Other FY 2022 research-and-development efforts include continued testing to support the start of the first phase of operational testing and completion of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) depot planning and logistics development.

One proposal notably absent from the FY 2022 request was any mention of the elimination of a future aircraft carrier Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH), which had been included in some previous budget requests. US lawmakers told the USN they would not consider such a proposal.